***** “To this day, the lies, misrepresentations, and fabrications that are the sum total of who my uncle is are perpetrated by the Republican Party and white evangelical Christians.” [Mary Trump: “Too Much and Never Enough”]

As Trump’s niece relates, Trump grew up being allowed to lie; often creates his own reality. Those “alternate facts” were one thing in his business career, they are quite another when this flawed person is again president of the United States. Below are just four recent examples of how Trump’s war on truth sabotages America, at home and abroad.

A]. “In Trump’s World, Wild Numbers Are Real If He Says They Are” [Naftali Bendavid; Washington Post; 8/3/25]
1]. “president Donald Trump made a promise..for Republican lawmakers that was as impossible as it was specific: He would drive down drug prices by as much as 1,500%…A price cannot drop by more than 100%..”
2]. “The cost of gasoline had fallen to $1.99 a gallon in five states, he said; according to AAA, it was more than $3 in every state..”
3]. “Businesses had invested $16 trillion in America in the past four months, he added; the entire U.S. economy last year was worth less than $30 trillion.”
!!!!! – these three Trump lies were all said at ONE sitting !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4]. “He uses statistics less as a factual statement of, ‘Here is what the best data says,” and more as rhetorical construct to sell an idea….He will choose a statistic based on what he thinks he can credibly say..” [Robert Rowland, University of Kansas communication professor]. [MEANING – how BIG a lie he can tell]

***** “Donald has always been able to get away with making blanket statements {“I know more about [fill in the blank] than anybody…he’s been allowed to riff about nuclear weapons, trade with China, and other things about which he knows nothing..” [ Mary Trump: “Too Much and Never Enough”]

B} “Trump erodes trust by firing labor-data official” [John Rash: Minnesota Star Tribune; 8/5/25]
1]. “Rather than reflect on employer uncertainty from policy prescriptions he’d implemented…Trump took to social media to claim the jb numbers were “RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad.” The president, predictably, offered no evidence, because there is nine.”
2]. “Firing the labor statistician delivering the data is akin to breaking the thermometer because of a heat wave. Which..is what the administration is also doing regarding global warming..”
3]. “the latest episode was “a sad and tragic day. This ws a country, until last Friday, which consistently provided the highest quality statistics.. This firing signals to me that we are well on our way to becoming a country where the government is not to be trusted, statistics are not to be trusted, nobody is to be trusted.” [ University of Minnesota economics professor V.V. Chari]
4]. “..Publisher’s Weekly reported that during inauguration week last January, sales of “1984” increased 192%..While another Orwellian warning, “Animal Farm,” rose 136%..readers turning to Orwell’s classic novels to better understand current events.”
5]. “The current event Chari fears? “We are becoming a dictatorship in might quick time.”

***** “From his childhood..to his early forays into the New York real estate world and high society until today, Donald’s aberrant behavior has been consistently normalized by others.” [Mary Trump; “Too Much and Never Enough”]

C]. “Park signs about Indian history at risk” [Dee DePass; Minnesota Star Tribune; 8/5/25]
1]. “Federal officials are reviewing whether to remove books and signs with historical references to the harsh treatment of Native Americans from Minnesota’s national park sites.”
2]. Signs in national parks “..asked visitors to alert the government “of any signs or other information that are negative about either the past or living Americans” in support of Trump’s executive order called “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” [!!! as in “1984,” Soviet Russia, Nazi Germany !!!!! – as in WHO. decides?????}
3] A resistance campaign, “Save our signs’. has so far acquired over 3,000 photos from the public to be used after Trump is gone – and truth returns. [ as in slaves did NOT “enjoy” slavery ]

***** “It is the absolute right of the state to supervise the formation of public opinion.” [Joseph Goebbels]

D] “Trump’s trade deman: Pledge money or get higher tariffs” [Alan Rappeport; New York Times; 8/5/25]
1] “President Donald Trump’s tariff threats have turned into a play for cold, hard cash as he tries to leverage U.S. economic power to cajole other nations to make multi-billion dollar investments to maintain access to America’s market.”
2]. “To trade experts..raise the question of whether Trump is negotiating with trading partners or trade hostages. “This is no doubt a global shakedown of sorts,” said Scott Lincicome {of the} Cato Institute.”
3]. There are many questions about what “commitments” mean. “Donald Trump is a gifted storyteller, and I think when his counterparts recognize this, they can play to it,’ Ames said. “If you’re negotiating with a narcissist, you look for ways to make them feel like they’ve won.” [Chinese “commitments” to buy American farm products in Trump’s first term “were never met.”]

*****”A lie once told remains a lie, but a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth.” [Joseph Goebbels]

e]. “In Trump’s world {lies} are standard operating procedure. When lies are repeated, they have the effect of shutting down critical thinking – people turn a blind eye to the lie and to the truth. When a once respected and trusted sources of news are called fake or the enemy of the people, people are put into a double bind. They are discouraged from trying to reality check – they might even feel it is a betrayal to their allegiance to Trump to try to do so.” [Steven Hassan: “The Cult Of Trump”; Free Press; 2019]

***** “Trust is the foundation of leadership.” [Colin Powell]
***** “The object of the superior mind is truth.” [Confucius]
***** “Trust is the glue that holds government together.” [Gerald Ford]

*** “At what point, then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us….If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.” [ Abraham Lincoln ]

America is a different society, a different country, than it was in 2015. America has been INFECTED with a destructive virus: antidemocracyism. Calculating and cynical forces have been unleashed. Hatred, greed, suspicion have been unleashed. Religious intolerance, masquerading as “religious freedom,” has been unleashed. YOU have been told to be afraid – of “them.” The mass middle class prosperity of 1947-73 has been DELIBERATELY DESTROYED. Norms of decency and respect for others have been destroyed. “Democracy” isn’t just rules and laws. “Democracy” used to be how we as Americans treated each other. “Democracy” is intent to “..promote the general Welfare..” America is not, never has been perfect – but from 1901-1980, America was, BY INTENT, taking strides toward achieving a real Democracy. But – step-by-step, since 1981, mass democracy – one that tried to “..promote the general Welfare..”, has been DELIBERATELY SABOTAGED. By whom ???
By. TEAM FAR RIGHT – by “supreme court” corruption, by tax laws favoring already obscenely rich, by a coordinated propaganda war to convince YOU that black is white, by legislation at state and federal levels taking away 1901-1980 democratic reforms.
Since 2015 – all this deliberate antidemocratic destruction has been on steroids. A man whom some have called “a fascist to the core,” “a moron,’ “a flawed person,” a man whom many describe as having two priorities: greed and revenge – has been INFECTING America with his warped conduct; most especially with his LYING; his often monumental cruelty; his poisonous rhetoric; his transactional conduct; a man who has desecrated the office once held by Washington, Lincoln, FDR, Eisenhower; a man whi has weakened the very soul of America.

*** “Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court, can save it.”
[ Judge Learned Hand ]

{Note: following are excerpts from David Brooks’ May, 2025, The Atlantic article: “Everything We Once Believed In…Trumpism has replaced conservatism’s core values with just one: the raw pursuit of power.” As an American, YOU OWE it to yourself to read the entire article. ]:

1]. “I have thought of America as a deeply flawed nation that is nonetheless a force of tremendous good in the world…Since January 0, 2025.. I have watched America behave vilely…the best description for what I”m feeling is moral shame: To watch the loss of your nation’s honor is embarrassing and painful. George Orwell is a useful guide to what we are witnessing.”

2]. “Russell Vought, Donald Trump’s budget director, sounds like he walked straight out of ..”1984″…”we want them to not want to go to work, because they are increasingly viewed as the villains…We want to put them in trauma.”…Trump has caused suffering…..suffering…..suffering…..Trump..isn’t just declaring war on ‘wokeness”; he’s declaring war on Christian service – on any kind of service, really.”

3]. “If there is an underlying philosophy driving Trump, it is this: Morality is for suckers. The strong do what they want…Day after day, the administration works to create a world where ruthless people can thrive…His first term gradually eroded norms and acclimatized America to a new sort of regime…he’s making the globe a playground for gangsters…Trumpism has become a form of nihilism that is devouring everything in its path.”

4] “..Trump may have campaign as a MAGA populist..he governs as a Palm Beach elitist…The MAGA elite rode to power on working-class votes…they don’t care about the working class…Trump and his crew could have taken office with actual plans to make life better for working-class Americans…These faux populists have no interest in that.”

5]. “It turns out..when you mix narcissism and nihilism, you create an acid that corrodes every belief system it touches. This Trumpian cocktail has eaten away at Christianity…if Trumpianism has a central tenet, it is untrammeled lust for worldly power….The Nietzschean Ubermenschen – which Trump and Musk clearly believe themselves to be – offer the premise of domination over those sick sentimentalists who practice compassion.”

6]. “Trumpian nihilism has eviscerated conservatism. The people in this administration are not conservatives…Trumpism trashes moral norms in every direction…Trump bulldozes checks and balances…the Trump administration couldn’t care less about promoting democracy – or about human dignity.”

7]. “..we have reached a point of traumatic rupture. A demagogue has come to power and is ripping everything down..what’s likely to happen is..the demagogue will start making mistakes, because incompetence is built into the nihilistic project…Authoritarian nihilism is inherently stupid…They are pathologically self-destructive. When you create an administration in which one man has all the power and everybody else has to flatter his voracious ego, stupidity results. Authoritarians are also morally stupid. Humility, prudence, and honesty..are practical tools that produce good outcomes. When you replace them with greed, lust, hypocrisy, and dishonesty, terrible things happen…. When Trump creates an unnecessary crisis, its unlikely to be a small one.”

8]. ‘..although Trumpism’s collapse is a necessary condition for national recovery, it is not a sufficient one. Its demise must be followed by the hard work necessary to achieve true civic and political renewal.” [ Brooks provides six things America must do to repair the damage to US that Trumpism has caused. ]

Think of Trumpism as a plague, a pandemic. It has attacked the body of American democracy. America will NOT. BE. HEALTHY. until the last vestiges of Trumpism have been expunged. The cure will be more democracy. It will be a return to what was achieved between 1947-1980 economically – a SHARING of America’s wealth, NOT tax cuts for the rich. It will be a return to government that cares about ordinary people – NOT one that cuts funding for health, education, government services. Itr will be one in which civil rights are once again available to ALL Americans – a simple decency, one that thinks most people are good, NOT “bad.” It will be a society in which WE strive for love and respect – NOT one in which some people get rich by promoting hatred, some get rich by LYING and spreading falsehoods.

Donald Trump has been a cancer. America will not be healthy as long as he and his disciples have ANY power, are listened to by ANYBODY. Trump as president isn’t just a NIGHTMARE – him being elected twice is an embarrassment. People around the world look at America differently BECAUSE ‘we’ elected him. What is wrong with the Americans? How could they have been so stupid?

But – unfortunately, Trump isn’t alone. The greatest mass murders of al, time – Stalin, Hitler, Mao – didn’t kill millions. Their followers did. Trump hasn’t murdered American democracy by himself – his followers, his enablers, his funders, his apologists did. The beginning of the end of the Trumpian nightmare MUST start with individual acts of courage from people like YOU. Must continue with the 2026 elections. Must continue until no fragment of the Trumpian virus infects OUR society and government. The post- World War II Germans have shown us how it can be done. WE can do this. BUT – let YOUR voice be heard, please.

*** “The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain neutrality in times of moral crisis.”

[. Dante Alighieri ]

The following is a review of one week’s damage to America and YOU by the Trump-Musk KAKISTOCRACY as reported by the New York Times in their “The Week In Trump” series of one-week of their destruction.

March 28 – “Reiterated his desire to take the territory of Greenland, saying the United States “cannot do without it’
– “Laid out plans to effectively eliminate U.S.A.I.D. by moving the agency under the State Department and reducing its staff to some 15 positions”. [thus crippling an American “soft power” effort around the world!]
– “Said he picked a conservative journalist and Fox News contributor to be his ‘drug czar'” [?qualifications?]
– “Pardoned Trevor Miller, the founder of the Nikola Corporation, an electric truck manufacturer that went bankrupt [Milton had been sentenced for securities & wire fraud; Trump claimed his conviction was political]
– “Commuted the sentence of a media executive convicted of fraud, on the day he was set to surrender to prison [he’d been sentenced to almost 10 years for defrauding investors & lenders]

March 29 – “Fired nearly all U.S.-based staff at the Institute of Peace” [an independent nonprofit]
– “Said he wouldn’t fire the officials involved in a leaked Signal chat” [which disturbed U.S. allies for its incompetence]
– ‘Said he ‘couldn’t care less’ if car prices went up in response to his tariffs”. [meaning he doesn’t care about YOU]

March 30 – “Gave Elon Musk’s cost cutters access to a federal payroll system” [ and sensitive data like YOUR Social Security number]
– “Suggested imposing so-called secondary tariffs on Iran and possibly bombing the country if Tehran didn’t make a nuclear deal”. [like maybe the one Trump killed himself earlier???????]
– “Fired two longtime career prosecutors in Los Angeles and Memphis” [because Trump knows more about u.S. law?]
– “Said he was serious about running for a third term in office” [because he had ‘methods’ to circumvent the U.S. constitution – is the Trump DICTATORSHIP official now?????????]

March 31 – “Admitted that the U.S. has deported a legal immigrant because of an ‘administrative error'” [ Trump also Aclaimed American courts lacked jurisdiction to stop him – is the Trump DICTATORSHIP official now????]
– “Said the administration would relax limits on pollution from cars, saying the move wouldn’t make a difference to the environment” [ because Trump “knows’ decades of science have proved him wrong?????]
– “Made a DOGE employee the new acting president of the U.S. Institute of Peace” [“qualified’ because he helped take it over earlier !!!!!!!!!!!!!!]
– “Nominated Anthony D’Esposito. a former U.S. representative of New York, as the next inspector general for the Labor Department” [‘during his House term’ he’d earlier “raised concerns of ethics rules violations”]
– ‘Dropped a Biden-era voting rights lawsuit in Georgia”. [ Georgia Republicans tried to limit voting]

April 1 – “Planned to target another law firm that brought lawsuits against the president and his allies” [they made the ‘mistake” of ‘documenting Mr. Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol”]
– “fired thousands of federal health workers” [“the purge included senior leaders & top scientists charged with regulating food & drugs, protecting Americans from disease & researching new treatments & cures” – why do we need this ?!?!?]
– “Laid off the entire staff running a $4.1 billion program to help low-income households across the United states pay their utility bills” [why should “we’ care if 6.2 million Americans freeze – they must be “un-deserving”]
“Laid off one of the leaders of the Food and Drug Administration’s response to bird flu” [hey – its only in birds, right???]
– “Removed between 350 and 400 books from the Naval Academy library to comply with a verbal order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth”. [obviously, these must have been subverting minds, right???????]

April 2_ “Unveiled expansive global tariffs in a significant escalation of the president’s trade fight, sending shock waves through the global economy” [ like in many other areas, “our’ president is a “genius” on tariffs and the world economy!!!]
– “Demanded additional cuts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after extensive staff reductions” [!!!!!]
– “Picked a lawyer who has defended several key Trump loyalists for the Justice Department’s No. 3 post” [All dictatorships run on the principle of loyalty – does this mean the Trump DICTATORSHIP is now official???]

April 3 – “Fired head of National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command” [after a well-known FAR RIGHT “influencer” talked to Trump – rumor has it the Russians and Chinese are laughing and celebrating}
– “Threatened to cut funding at more universities” [ rumor has it the Russians and Chinese are laughing and celebrating over “our” president destroying intellectual ability at leading U.S. universities]
– “Restored gun rights to Mel Gibson and nine other people with criminal convictions”. [DICTATORSHIPS reward ‘prominent supports”; America NEEDS more people with criminal convictions running around with guns, right????]

*** “Every time we turn our heads the other way when we see the law flouted, when we tolerate what we know to be wrong, when we close our eyes and ears to the corrupt because we are too busy or too frightened, when we fail to speak out, we strike a blow against freedom and decency and justice.” [Robert F. Kennedy, Senior]

1]. So you want to change a democracy into an autocracy. Where to begin?…………Begin by eroding press freedoms. Then move on to threatening major universities….Frighten the legal community…go after any judge who has the temerity to disagree….. Your tools are fear, confusion, intimidation, and, where applicable, loss of funding..” [Judge Edward J. Cleary: “A step-by-step checklist toward autocracy – moving along too easily so far”: Minnesota Star-Tribune; 3/26/25. – READ THIS ARTICLE1111 – excerpts following…]

*** “So long as men worship the Caesars and Napoleons, Caesars and Napoleons will duly arise and make them miserable.” [ Aldous Huxley ]

2] “…..the land of the free, and the home of the brave…”??? YOUR democracy is undergoing a COUP right now – conducted by ruthless, GREEDY, cruel, ARROGANT, anti-democratic people. What have YOU done to stop them?
In 60 days, the Musk-Trump KAKISTOCRACY has done more damage to America, American society, American democracy than ANY individual or group, 1789-2024.
They are following. “Move Fast and Break Things.” And they have, they ARE. As usual, this particular FAR RIGHT group “justifies” their ILLEGAL acts by LYING. They’re MAKING STUFF UP. There is NOTHING in the U.S. Constitution, nor ANY “intent,” nor ANY practices, 1789-2024, that allows this ‘PROJECT 2025″ destruction
They are presenting YOU with a fait accompli and. daring YOU to undo it.

***. “In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make that claim sooner or later: the logic of their position demanded it.”

[. George Orwell: “1984” ]

3] “Let us begin with the press…she resigned in protest doe to a directive issued by the owner of the Post, Jeff Bezos….The directive limited the subject matter opinion columnists could cover and circumscribed what viewpoints they could express. So much for press freedom..” [ Judge Cleary: ‘…checklist…” ]

***. “I tell you..the cornerstone of democracy is free press…because that’s what they’re always first after..newspapers, radio, television..” [ Milos Forman ]

4] “On to the major universities. The Trump administration has made it clear that it will withhold funding from these institutions if they don’t cooperate….a climate of fear is descending on institutions of higher learning, leading to self-censorship and muted voices.” [ Judge Cleary: “…checklist…”

*** “Fascist politics seeks to undermine public discourse by attacking and devaluing education, expertise, and language…its representatives and facilitators denounce universities and schools as sources of “Marxist indoctrination”…By debasing institutions of higher learning and impoverishing our joint vocabulary to discuss policy, fascist politics reduces debate to ideological conflict.” [ Jason Stanley: “How Fascism Works” ]

5]. “Our goal is to intimidate the legal community and settle old scores. We’ll punish large law firms..for who they have represented in the past, thereby discouraging attorneys from taking on clients that do not adhere to the administration’s positions.” { Judge Cleary: “…checklist…” ]

***. “Fascist law-and-order rhetoric is explicitly meant to divide citizens into two classes: those of the chosen nation..and those who are not..women who do not fit traditional gender roles, non-whites, homosexuals, immigrants, “decadent cosmopolitans,” those who do not have the dominant religion, are by their very existence violations of law and order.” [ Stanley: “How Fascism Works” ]

6] “That brings us to the one major impediment to establishing your autocracy: the rule of law, as pronounced by the third co-equal branch of government, the judicial branch….a dozen federal judges…have issued injunctions and have otherwise put at least a temporary halt to your myriad attempts to impose your will….You cannot allow that to continue. Back to fear and intimidation. Call for the impeachment of these obstructionists….Sooner or later..cases will come to the Supreme Court. If a majority..rule against the administration..if the rule of law holds – then you will have to decide if you will accept the decision or defy it. If you defy it, and succeed in doing so, you have your autocracy.”
[ Judge Cleary: “…checklist…” READ THIS AGAIN! – THIS is how close YOU are to dictatorship ]

*** “Trump has no knowledge of the American story and so cannot have any faith in it. He has no understanding of our sympathy for the language of the Founders, so he cannot be inspired by it. Since he doesn’t believe American democracy is good, he has no interest in an America that aspires to be a model among nations…..”To destroy a society..it is first necessary to delegitimize its basic institutions.” If you believe that American institutions are no different from their opposite, then there is no reason to defend them. the same is true of transatlantic institutions.” [ Anne Applebaum: “Twilight of Democracy” ]

7] “Our nation is in the middle of a coup d’etat..a classic coup..An ill-defined but powerful group of people, most with no legal standing but with ample private funding, is making drastic change in our nation’s politics and governing structures. Many of these changes violate existing laws and some our Constitution.” [ Edward Lotterman: “Shaky politics make for a shaky economy”; St. Paul Pioneer Press; 2/16/25 ]

8] “President Trump’s second term dizzies many Americans, but I find it oddly familiar…I”ve seen parallels in authoritarian countries I’ve covered…Strongmen seek power through a pattern of behavior that is increasingly replicated in Washington.”….”When authoritarians covet power, they pursue several common strategies.
First, they go after checks and balances within the government….Trump ignores laws he finds inconvenient.”…
Second, authoritarians try to crush independent referees and civil society institutions….Trump is doing his best to intimidate news organizations and discredit them as “enemies of the people.”…
Third, authoritarians sometimes recruit shadowy private enforcers….Trump has not gone that far.”…
[ Nicholas Kristof: “An Alarming Pattern Emerges”; New York Times; 2/16/25 ]

***. So, OK – YOU tell me – as a patriotic American – should YOU be alarmed at what the Musk-Trump KAKISTOCRACY is doing? One simple test for you: the Constitution’s Preamble: “We the People, created OUR government to “…establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility…promote the general Welfare…” What, IF ANYTHING, has the Trump-Musk KAKISTOCRACY done to achieve these goals – in realty, not rhetoric – for ALL 340 million Americans???

*** “Corruption is never an individual act. It always involves groups of people bound by one fundamental rule of association: an exchange of favors…It allows crimes to be protected with impunity and is characterized by an intolerable arrogance.” [ Roberto Matta ]

1] “The reality is that he [Trump] brings together the least attractive elements of capitalism and socialism, fusing heavy-handed state control with high inequality, and entrenching a set of oligarchs who serve simultaneously as the ruling party’s victims and co-conspirators. The more that political favor displaces market competition as the basis of corporate success, the worse things will get.” [ Jonathan Chait: “The Fear Economy..How Trump is exploiting American capitalism for personal power”; April, 2025; The Atlantic – portions follow – READ THIS ARTICLE!!!!!]

***. “Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power.”
[ Benito Mussolini ]

2]. “Mr. Miller told Mr. Zuckerberg that he had an opportunity to help reform America, but it would be on President-elect Donald J. Trump’s terms….His rehabilitation complete, Zuckerberg assumed a place of pride at Trump’s inauguration..”

*** “People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in some conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.” [ Adam Smith ]

3] “The President’s public communion with the business titans who have submitted to him has been analyzed as a signal of authoritarianism and his alliance with the rich. But it also reveals another emerging aspect of Trumpism: his rejection of the capitalist principles that ultimately generate prosperity.”

*** “Wherever there is power, greed, and money, there is corruption.” [ Ken Poirot ]

4] “He [Trump] believes, like Putin in political control of the economy’s commanding heights – success for those executives and companies who please him, failure for those who don’t.. a psychological transformation within the executive class…the combination of fear and solicitousness that Trump now commands is wholly new.”

*** “The fear tactic is a tactic that’s used by people who want to maintain control, and it’s very effective.”
[ Hamza Yusof ]

5] “Putting the screws to media owners in particular, especially early on, seems to follow the same playbook that Putin and other strongmen have used.”

*** “It is a characteristic of a tyrant to dislike everyone who has dignity or independence; he wants to be alone in his glory.” [ Aristotle ]

6] “Although Trump has so far devoted the most attention to media businesses, he has not ignored the broader economy. Every economic policy decision is a potential weapon to punish dissent or reward his friends, beginning with tariffs.”

***. “My task is not to make men better but to make use of their weaknesses.” [ Adolf Hitler ]

7] “..Trump has also used tariffs to gain personal and political leverage over American businesses. During his first term, Trump..entertained a parade of executives pleading for exemptions, which his administration doled out at its whim.”

***. “The technique of acquiring dictatorship over what has been a democracy… always involves the same mixture of bribery, propaganda, and violence.” [ Bertrand Russell ]

8] “A 2019 investigation by the Commerce Department’s inspector general reported ‘the appearance of improper influence in decision-making”…Trump has managed to solve this problem..by firing, to date, the inspectors general of 18 federal agencies, including Commerce.”

*** “Corruption is like a ball of snow, when once set a rolling it must increase.” [ C.C. Colton ]

9] “Musk, like Trump, respects no distinction between his personal financial interests, those of his political party, and those of the country….tells everybody [in] the upper class or aspires to it that their safest path is to join the ruling claque.”

*** “..Trump’s administration proceeded to crystallize and put into practice – in barefaced ways unseen in the United States for a century – exactly the type of systematic corruption Americans decry…a U.S. integrated kleptocratic network like the ones that dominate so many developing countries. It is the most sophisticated, powerful, and threatening such organism..in the United states since the Gilded Age…They want private, not democratic , control of the country’s resources.” [ Sarah Chayes: “On Corruption In America” – READ THIS BOOK – to understand post-1980 declines in people’s incomes and in American democracy}

10] “If Americans think that by empowering Trump, they have traded away some of their equality, civic decency, and political freedom for prosperity, we may find one day that we have sacrificed them all.”

*** “They that can give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”
[ Benjamin Franklin ]t ]

“If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people
coming behind you, and you don’t, you are wasting your time on this earth.”
Baseball Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente, who died in a plane crash attempting
to provide relief for earthquake victims

1] “How many cards do you hold” [Stephen Young; Minnesota Star-Tribune; 3/4/25]: “On Friday, President Trump let slip his truth: That life is just a game; that you win or lose depending on the cards you hold…Trump revealed himself as a hedonist…Hard work, sacrifice, dignity, integrity and idealism do not seem to be high cards in his estimation.”….
“…the curtain has been pulled open and we have seen our Great Oz as he really is: a huckster…Fifty percent of Americans own only 2.5% of our national wealth.”…
“The political consequences for Trump in letting the cat out of the bag about his approach to life are adverse and will be lasting. He has trashed his reputation for prowess. Now, everyone will test him. Few will trust him.”….
“Trust cannot happen where there is dissembling on either side is going on, and without trust, nothing good and lasting can be put in place. Thinking of the American presidency as a game of poker or blackjack will never Make America Great Again.”

*** “The interest of [businessmen] is always in some respects different from, and even opposite to, that of the public…The proposal of any new law or regulation of commerce which comes from this order…ought never be adopted, till after having been long and carefully examined…with the most suspicious attention. It comes from an order of men…who have generally an interest to deceive and even oppress the public.” [Adam Smith]

2] “It is hard to describe Trump’s first month and a half in office as something other than a retribution campaign against the American people.” [Jamelle Bouie: “The Revenge Tour Has Found Its True Target”; New York Times; 3/9/25]: “THis fact of Trump’s indifference to most Americans – if not his outright hostility toward them, considering his assault on virtually every government function that helps ordinary people – suggests another dimension to his revenge tour: It is almost as if he wants to inflict pain not just on a specific set of individuals but on the entire nation as well.”…
“Under the cover of an audit, he has empowered Elon Musk, his de facto co-president, to take an axe to any and every program that helps ordinary Americans. the so-called Department of Government Efficiency has stripped funds or personnel or both from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the National Park Service, the National Weather Service, FEMA, the Department of Veterans Affairs. and the Social Security Administration…It has degraded the federal government’s ability to deliver critical services to tens of millions of Americans and is endangering payments to millions more.”

*** “THe greatest evil is not done in those sordid dens of evil that Dickens loves to paint..but is conceived and ordered..in clear, carpeted, warmed, well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voices.” [C. S. Lewis]

3] Below, just SOME of the Musk-Trump DICTATORSHIP stupidity, corruption, cruelties:
– “White House firing FAA radar, navigation workers.”
– “Another $20B is stripped from IRS..could thwart efforts to investigate wealthy tax cheaters”
– “W.H.O. Withdrawal May Hurt Americans on Many Health Matters”
– “Farmers are out millions After Trump freezes USDA funds”
– “Don’t the Lives of Women and Girls Matter?” [N.Kristof; New York Times; 1/12/25]
– “Report: Trump Would Drain Social Security”
– “With U.S.A.I.D. Cuts, Africa Faces Crippling Losses”
– “New Press rules leave Americans less informed” [J.Rash; Minnesota Star-Tribune; 3/11/25]
– “Trump job cuts gouge civil rights protections”
– “Domestic violence services at risk”
– “FDA firings decimate teams on medical devices, diseases, food safety”
– “Feds end program to plant needed trees in anti-DEI push”
– “Treasury won’t enforce rule meant to combat money laundering”
– “Lacking rationale, sudden firings of senior officers will reduce security” [J.Stavridis; Bloomberg Opinion; 3/2/25]

*** “…the rich have the temperaments of lizards..their indifference to other people’s joy or sorrow bears comparison to the..stars of Orion.” Their worship of money “results in..depreciation of all values that do not pay” and the definition of freedom “as the freedom to exploit.” “Such values give “rise to a system that puts a premium on crime, encourages the placid acquiescence in..dishonesty..proclaims as inviolate the economic savagery [of].. the free market or freedom under capitalism.” [Lewis Lapham, in Sexton’s “War on Labor and the Left”}

If YOU are a caring, decent human being; especially if YOU are a decent, caring American – then you MUST read “Now Is the Time of Monsters,” by Ezra Klein; January 19, 2025; New York Times.
The four monsters: “Donald Trump is returning; artificial intelligence is maturing; the planet is warming; and the global fertility rate is collapsing.”
“To look at any of these stories in isolation is to miss what they collectively represent: the unsteady, unpredictable emergence of a different world.”

First, Trump: “Democracy does not die in darkness. It degrades through deal-making…We have seen this termitic corruption consume democracies elsewhere…Orban’s Hungary..” For perspective read “How Democracies Die” [Levitsky & Ziblatt], “On Corruption In America” [Chayes], “How Fascism Works” [Stanley]

Then, seriously examine Trump’s first week in power. Pardoning 1,500 CONVICTED people who trashed the U.S. Capitol; injured, disabled, murdered police; hunted and intended to execute a Vice President and various Congress members – all in an unprecedented coup effort – which many said they were doing because Trump called them to do it.

Next, examine Trump’s efforts to suppress criticism of him and make him accountable. He’s conducted a 10-year war against ANY & ALL media that dare to point out his 30,XXX lies, his stupidity and incompetence, his cruelties, his illegalities and un-Constitutional attempts.

Next – examine Trump’s efforts to ensure “loyalty.” He and his allies intend to purge ANYBODY in government they can – legally or illegally – who aren’t “loyal” to whatever weirdness exists in Trump’s teenage mind. Witness his firing of government inspectors general. Look up WHY Congress created their positions.

Next – examine Trump’s unprecedented effort to purge government civil servants. For perspective, examine WHY government civil service employees were given protection from political hacks: “By the mid-1820s, government jobs were commonly used as political rewards. An incoming President would dismiss a large number of government workers..and replace them with members of his own party..to enhance the President’s control of the bureaucracy.” Laws passed in 1853 and 1855 to get competent people. In 1881, a frustrated office seeker murdered President Garfield – leading to the Civil Service Act of 1881. [World Book Encyclopedia]

Next – examine Trump’s relationships with billionaires, especially in light of his infamous 2017 tax cut law that primarily benefitted the wealthy – which he wants to renew! In spite of the fact it WILL increase the U.S. national debt by trillions [his 2017 billionaire’s tax cut is 25% of the current federal debt].

Next – examine Trump’s control of the “Republican” Party – now essentially a personality cult. Review the demands he’s made, starting with NOT approving CONSERVATIVE-created bipartisan immigration reform bill that would’ve substantially improved U.S. border enforcement. Trump ORDERED “Republicans’ to vote against it – so HE COULD CAMPAIGN ON IMMIGRATION in the 2024 election!!! [is this THE definition of corruption? ]

Next – review material, just in ordinary media, on hw Trump intends to operate on the basis of fear and intimidation – whatever it takes to BULLY people, including foreign governments, into doing whatever stupid, cruel, destructive, illegal or un-Constitutional thing he’s thinking of doing. For perspective, read up on dictatorships, fascism, authoritarianism, criminal mob bosses

And then – there’s “PROJECT 2025” – the FAR RIGHT’s wish list, some 900 pages, so extreme that 2024 voters didn’t like it – so in typical Trump fashion, he lied – saying that like Col. Klink – “I know nothing” about it. Major authors of “Project 2025” NOW are in key positions of his administration – so they can implement “Project 2025” over YOU.

Second – A.I. As with all technology, THE big issue: HOW will A.I. be used – for the betterment of ordinary people like YOU – or – for criminal things, for un-democratic things? Will it develop into a threat to humans because it can outthink us? Among its numerous flaws – it has shown great propensity to lie and make stuff up. America and China are in a race to be #1 – what if China wins? What happens if A.I. is owned and controlled by the same oligarchs now largely running much of American society? Only a strong, democratic government, can police this – BUT – it’s highly unlikely a Trump government, based upon lies, fear, deal-making, pro-oligarchy – is going to be that government. What can happen between January 20, 2025 – and – January 20, 2029. that is irreversible???

Third – Climate CRISIS. OUR world is breaking heat records virtually every month. We KNOW oceans are too hot by centuries of records – creating storms, etc. We are NOW getting all kinds of extreme weather that scientists have warned us about. If we continue to burn fossil fuels at current rates – the earth, as we know it, is DOOMED Here is perhaps the ultimate example of GREED – some rich people determined to continue getting richer – when their actions will place their own children and grandchildren in peril.

Fourth – Population Collapse. All over the “advanced” world, countries are NOW not producing enough people to simply. replace themselves. Some are on a path to cease to exist as currently structured. Falling birth rates can produce instability – as currently seen in world news. And – for many countries, immigration is THE ONLY chance to survive successfully. BUT – now we have Trump’s war on the people doing the dirty, dangerous, work of American society. Work Americans have refused to do for decades – see comments by farmers, business people, economists.

In various fiction forms – fairy takes, comic books, movies – heroes ride in to save the day. WE SHOULD. BE. SO. LUCKY. Greed has already made climate CRISIS worse beyond scientific models and fears. Our “heroes’ will have to change to more creative power sources, or, we will either return to a new “ice age”, or, the earth will become uninhabitable.

Norms, policies, laws. COULD be written to control A.I. for ordinary people’s benefit – but GREED and weak/non-existent government action [paid for by the rich] WILL allow A.I. to be used to make some wealthy even more rich and powerful, and to create a nightmare society surpassing “1984.”

The BIG, largely unanswered question on population collapse: WHY are people all over the world CHOOSING to have fewer children? What has happened since 1960 that has led people to WANT fewer children? Is this, again GREED – is in the rich of America deliberately destroying the 1947-73 mass middle class mixed blue-white collar prosperity??? What kind of support will encourage people to have children?

And then. there’s an election in which the world’s leading “democracy” chooses to give power to an ACKNOWLEDGED, an PROVEN, cruel, selfish, greedy, liar, and un-democratic “man.” At a time demanding a Washington, a Lincoln, an FDR, an Eisenhower – America, and the world, must now deal with THE anti-Washington. A “man’ whose ego demands he be surrounded by sycophants and incompetents; a 78-year old teenage cult leader

Naughty thought: wouldn’t YOU love to be the “fly-on-the-wall” when all those billionaires, politicians, businessmen, oligarchs, etc. fly to Florida to kiss Trump’s ass – so you could see if he actually makes them do it!!!
Naughty thought #2: would you like to see if he makes them do any other acts while down on their knees?

Sobering thought: †here are 1,453 more days until January 20, 2029. What could possibly go wrong?

Literary thought: Don’t you wish Mark Twain and H.L. Mencken were still alive to write about all this? What could they do with Trump’s l/23/25 statement about the U.S. Federal Reserve bankers and economists: “I know interest rates much better than they do.” ?????????

Be kind to each other. And – hang on to people you love, and. your wallet.